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Immune impact of neoadjuvant chemo/radio-therapy in the pancreatic cancer microenvironment

ABSTRACT: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has dismal five-year survival (<9%). We examined the impact of neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX alone or in combination with radiation therapy (conventional radiotherapy, XRT, or stereotactic body radiotherapy, SBRT) on immunologically relevant genes in the PDAC tumor microenvironment (TME). We hypothesize conventional therapies may induce immune alterations in the TME that can be leveraged to enhance the efficacy of immunotherapy in PDAC. PDAC patients who underwent upfront surgical resection or who received neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX with or without neoadjuvant radiotherapy followed by surgical resection were selected for study. The expression of 730 immunologically relevant transcripts was quantitated using the Nanostring PanCancer immune profiling panel (Platform GPL19965). This analysis identified189 genes that were differentially expressed at the RNA level on the basis of neoadjuvant therapy. On average specimens were obtained 6.6-17.0 weeks after the conclusion of neoadjuvant therapy, depending on treatment group. These data provide insight into the immunological effects of standard of care neoadjuvant therapy for resectable/borderline-resectable PDAC. This work provides data to guide strategic new combination therapies for pancreatic cancer.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE129492 | GEO | 2019/04/09

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Immunotherapy provides an alternative approach for cancer treatment. However, in-depth analyses of the effects of immunotherapy on the tumor microenvironment (TME) have not been conducted in non-melanoma tumors. Here we describe changes in the pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) TME following immunotherapy treatment, and show for the first time that vaccine-based immunotherapy directly alters the TME, inducing neogenesis of tertiary lymphoid structures that convert immunologically quiescent tumors into immunologically active tumors. Alterations in five pathways important for immune modulation and lymphoid structure development (TH17/Treg, NFkB, Ubiquitin-proteasome, Chemokines/chemokine receptors, and Integrins/adhesion molecules) in vaccine-induced intratumoral lymphoid aggregates were associated with improved post-vaccination responses. Additional studies in other cancers and patients treated with other forms of immunotherapy are warranted to further develop signatures defined in intratumoral lymphoid structures into biomarkers that predict effective anti-tumor immune responses. These signatures may also expose therapeutic targets for promoting more robust antitumor immune responses in the TME. Between July 2008 and September 2012, 59 patients were enrolled into an ongoing study of an irradiated, allogeneic GM-CSF-secreting pancreatic tumor vaccine (GVAX) administered intradermally either alone or in combination with immune modulatory doses of cyclophophamide (Cy) as neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment for patients with resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Patients were randomized 1:1:1 to 3 treatment arms. In Arm A, patients received GVAX alone; in Arm B, patients received GVAX plus a single intravenous dose of Cy at 200 mg/m2 1 day prior to each vaccination; in Arm C, patients received GVAX plus oral Cy at 100 mg once daily for 1 week on and 1 week off. Up to 6 GVAX treatments were administered and all of the patients remained in their initial treatment arms throughout the duration of the study. All 59 of the patients received the 1st GVAX treatment 2 weeks +/-4 days prior to surgery. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue blocks of surgically resected PDAC were obtained from the pathology archive. FFPE tissue blocks from each subject were stained by H&E immediately before the vaccine therapy-induced lymphoid aggregates were microdissected . To better understand the functional status of these vaccine therapy induced lymphoid aggregate structures, gene microarray analysis on RNA isolated from microdissected lymphoid aggregates was performed. Gene expression was compared among samples grouped according to patient overall survival, post-vaccination induction of enhanced mesothelin-specific T cell responses in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL), and the intratumoral CD8+ T effector to FoxP3+ Treg ratio. Post-vaccination induction of enhanced mesothelin-specific T cell responses has been reported to correlate with longer survival in patients treated with Panc GVAX.

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Immune impact of neoadjuvant chemo/radio-therapy in the pancreatic cancer microenvironment

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